Blanford's Lark
Calandrella blanfordi
A long-tailed, medium-sized lark with a red cap. Varies geographically, with highland forms being darker and more richly colored and lowland forms looking more washed out, but all forms show a red or rufous cap and usually some black on the side of the breast. Found in montane grassland, agricultural fields, and semi-desert, often in flocks. Separated from other larks by the red cap and black patch on the side of the neck. The song consists of short chatty phrases, often repeated, and is usually given in flight. The calls include a rising whistle and a quick rattle.
Identification
Blanford's lark is 14–15 centimetres long. The upperparts are pale sandy-brown with some darker streaking and the crown is rufous. The underparts are pale and plain apart from a small dark patch on the side of the neck made up of vertical streaks. The greater short-toed lark is similar but has a greyer, more-streaked crown. Erlanger's and red-capped larks have darker upperparts with more streaking and a darker rufous crown. Erlanger's lark has larger dark neck-patches while in red-capped lark the patches are rufous.<p>Blanford's lark has a sparrow-like flight-call. The song is given in a circular song-flight and includes a mixture of chew-chew-chew-chew notes and fluid phrases.
Taxonomy
Blanford's lark was formerly included in either the greater short-toed lark (C. brachydactyla) or the red-capped lark (C. cinerea) but is now commonly treated as a separate species. Alternate names for Blanford's lark include Blandford's lark, Blandford's short-toed lark and Blanford's red-capped lark.<p>Two subspecies are recognized:
- Scientific name
- Calandrella blanfordi
- Authority
- (Shelley, 1902)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Alaudidae
- Genus
- Calandrella
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- unknown
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
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